Harness



1. c. HANK'INS.

HARNESS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. n, 1919.

" ,4O1,6OO, Patented Dec. 27, 192 1.

V Jenn o. rrennrns, or'nn'rnorr, MICHiGAN.

immense.

onaco.

Application filed January 17} 1919. Serial No. 271,566.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN C. HFAIFKINS, a citizen of the United States, resldlng at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Mlchi: gan, have invented a certain new and useful improvement in harness, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it perta ns to make and use the same, reference be ng had to the accompanying. drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to harness and an object of my improvements is to provide an improved harness which Wlll. facilitate the hitching of the horse to the vehlcle and by means of which the horse may be readily disconnected from the vehicle 1n case he should run away or become unmanageable.

I secure this object in the device lllust rated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 represents the thills of a vehlcle and so much of theharness as is necessary to illustrate my invention. i

Fig. 2 is a detail cross section 1n the plane 2-2 Fig. 1. r I

Fig. 3 is a detail cross section 811111131 to Fig. 2 except that the parts are in the de-- taching position. 1

Fig. i is a detail elevation of the part of the harness which engages the thills.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one end of the whitfletrees, the tug or trace being shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 6 is a perspective vlew of the attaching fixture for the whililetree. I

Fig. 7 is a modified construction of the device shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a modified construction of the attaching hook. I

'Fig. 9 is a detail plan View the whililetree.

Fig. 10 is a sectional elevation showing a modified construction of the whiflletree end.

a a are the thills and a is the cross bar at the rear of the thills. Z) is a strap extending across the back of the horse and down at the sides and continued in the girth b 0 is the breeching, d is a hook havin at its upper end a slot (Z and at its rearward edge a slot (i said hook being turned up to form a flexible bill or tongue at d at its lower end. One of these hooks (Z engages each of the thills a, the tongue (Z or the end of permitting the insertion of the thill from above or the threading of the hook over the thill. The breaching- 0 engages at each end in the slot 05 at the side of the hook. The strap 2) passesthrough the slot d to secure the hook in place and isof less breadth than the length or" be lost motion to obviate the bending of the hook or the shaft. m m are lugs or stops fixed to the under surface of the thills against which the rear edges of the hooks cl engage in order to back the vehicle.

h 7L 72, 71 is an attaching fixture consisting of the vertical portion 72. bentbackward and extending horizontally in the parth then turned vertically downward in the part if, then extending forward in the part bi Said fixture is placed with the cross car a between its horizontal portions, as shown in Fig. 2, and is secured thereto by the pivoting bolt 41. [t is a short stop-bar placed between the horizontal portions 72,

fi of the fixture and secured by rivets or bolts hf to the vertical portion 72. The ends of the bar 'h- 'strike against the cross bar 0: to limit the pivotal movement of said ture. The whiiiietree 'is bolted at f to theportion j oi the L-shaped piecej 7' Said whiflletree consists of a flat metal bar, the main portion of which is ina horizontal plane but it is twisted at each end, as

shown most distinctly ill-Fig. 5, so that its extreme end IS'iIl an approximately'vertical plane. There is an integral neck f extending from each of the ends of the whitiletree intermediate the upper and lower edges at this point and enlarging into an approximately disk-shaped portion 7. This construction leaves two shoulders f f at the end of the whiiiletree adjacent to the neck F. The neck f should be bent until it carries the disk f beyond the position at right angles to the whifi'ietree, as shown in Fig. 9. e is a tug or trace andthis is provided with the usual slots 6 e Instead of twisting and bending the parts 7 f backward they may be bent directly upward as shown in Fig. 10, in which case a lug would be provided to prevent the trace from slipping down onto the whiflletree The mode of using the above described device is as follows: i

The horse is placed between the thills, the

said slot so that there shall" fixture. .j j is a piece l.-shaped'in cross latter passing into the bend of the hooks {Z at either by being forced in from above or by the hooks being threaded over the thills from the end. The hooks engage against the stops m m, and the breaching being secured to said hooks the ofiice of the holdback is secured thereby. The tugs, or traces, are attached to the whiflietree by turning slots 6 to a vertical position, passing them over the disk f and allowing them to return to their normal posi tion, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 5. In this position they engage the neck 7' and are prevented from lateral movement by the shoulders f and enlargement 7.

Should the horse run away or become unmanageable the party' 7' is raised up turning about the pivot is until the line of the tug which is normally below said pivot comes above the same, when the part j j is caused to turn by the tension on the traces carrying the neck f and enlargement through the slot 6 as shown in Fig. 3, thus disengaging the tugs and the hooks d slide ofi from the thills thus releasing the horse.

I plan to secure a chain to the outer end of the part j of the piece j j to facilitate the initial turning of said part about the pivot is to release the tugs. To this end an aperture may be formed in the outer end of the part as shown in Fig. 6, or said part may be turned up to form hooks, as shown in Fig. 7. I plan also to use a spring w to hold the part j 7' in its normal position under usual conditions, as shown in Fig. 7

Instead of securing the breaching to the slots or eyes on the inner edges of the hooks (Z d, I plan to bend the metal of the hook upon itself, as shown in Fig. 8 at d a, forming a downwardly and outwardly extending part and then boring a hole d through said part for the attachment of the breaching.

The ordinary thill-loops may evidently be used if desired in place of the hooks shown.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the kind described,

a whifiletree consisting of a fiat bar lying horizontal and adapted to turn about a pivot parallel to the length thereof, said bar being twisted to form vertical edges at its ends and being extended in a neck and an enlargement extending vertically in the normal position of the whiffietree.

2. In an apparatus of the kind described, an attaching piece consisting of two horizon tal portions engaging a cross bar a between them and being pivoted to said cross bar by a vertical bolt, said horizontal portions being joined by a vertical portion forming a loop at a distance from the edge of said cross bar, and a stop bar secured in said loop to said vertical portion for the purpose described.

3. In an apparatus or the kind described, a pivoted attaching piece consisting of the relatively vertical parts it and it, a piece j 3' having a vertical portion j pivoted at its upper end to the vertical portion it of the attaching piece, and a horizontal portion j resting upon the horizontal portion A of the attaching piece, and a whiflietree secured to the piece j below said pivot.

a. In an apparatus of the kind described, a flat bar forming the whifiletree shaped to form a neck f and a disk f at its end bent at approximately right angles to the main portion of the whiflletree.

5. In an apparatus or the kind described, a pivoted attaching piece consisting of the relatively vertical parts 72, and if, a piece j having a vertical portion j pivoted at its upper end to the vertical portion it of the attaching piece, and a horizontal portion y' resting upon the horizontal portion 7& of the attaching piece, and a whifiietree secured to the piece j j below said pivot, a pair of thills provided with lugs m adapted to engage hooks on the harness.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification.

Joi-iN o. HANKINS. 1 

